


Sleep Now

by Tonight_At_Noon



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 03:53:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16590374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tonight_At_Noon/pseuds/Tonight_At_Noon
Summary: She comes home to find him in her bed.





	Sleep Now

**Author's Note:**

> Pointless one shots are my thing now. What even is plot?

She is exhausted when she finally reaches her apartment door. The meeting was meant to go until five, but of course it actually went until ten, because their client's family doesn't trust that she--a perfectly capable woman with the same law degree as her partner and a higher LSAT score--can get the case dismissed. She even started wearing more conservative clothes to their meetings in case it was the slight dip of her cleavage she allowed to be seen that was the thing bothering them, but they still refused to listen to her. Misogynistic assholes--even the mom, which stings Darcy the most.

So, she is tired, frustrated, and out $100 dollars thanks to yesterday's shopping spree. All she wants is to strip off this damned dress and climb into her bed.

Unlocking and opening the door, Darcy is immediately on alert as she steps inside the apartment. The lamp beside the sofa is on. She didn't leave it on. That's one of her things, saving electricity. She'll oftentimes sit in the pitch black just to applaud herself for not contributing to the pollution the earth's atmosphere via power plants.

Why is this light on, then? With her heart pounding, Darcy quietly toes off her heels and closes the door behind her with the softest click. Her apartment is silent. She stands between her kitchen and her living room listening for any sound, but none reach her. The first thought that assaults her is that the remnants of HYDRA found out her secret. He swore they wouldn't, but this is HYDRA, and even she knows they aren't to be doubted. Her second thought is that she simply left the light on. But she wouldn't do that, so obviously the former is correct and any second now a gunslinging assassin is going to burst from concealment to murder her.

Or maybe they'll just kidnap her. Use her to lure him out of hiding. Then, when he inevitably comes rushing in to save her with no plan, they'll kill her in front of him and then torture and kill him.

Darcy takes in a shuddering breath. Her lungs are tight. She steps further into the apartment, seeing for the first time that her bedroom door is ajar. He would kill her if he knew that she was about to walk inside a room that potentially housed a HYDRA agent waiting for her. But if there is a HYDRA agent waiting in there for her, then he won't actually have to kill her, because she'll already be dead.

Her steps are light as she approaches the room, skin vibrating. Pushing the door wider, it creaks and she halts, waiting for the gunfire to start. But it doesn't, so she continues on with her stupidity and enters the room with no plan, no weapon, and no regard for her own wellbeing. 

There is somebody sleeping in her bed. They are curled into a crescent shape, their face half-buried under the covers. 

Relief floods Darcy. Then confusion joins the party. Reaching the bed, she sits on the mattress and reaches out to pull the duvet down, revealing his face inch by inch. He is sound asleep. The lines of his forehead are smoothed. He isn't snarling, or frowning. But there are deep claw marks down the side of his face. They reach his neck, his shoulder. They are fresh and raw. Her white sheets are lightly stained with blood.

With fear returning, Darcy shakes him hard. "Bucky," she says, ignoring his groans, "Bucky wake up. Now."

His blue eyes slip open. "Darcy?" he says.

"Who were you expecting? This is my apartment."

He sits up--well, he tries. Darcy has to help him. "I was expecting you," he says, "five hours ago."

Right. The never-ending meeting. 

Concern for the soldier dripping sweat and blood in her bed washes away her annoyance. "What happened?" She strokes the uninjured side of his face, her knuckles grazing the sharp stubble.

His non-metal hand encircles her wrist. He looks pleadingly into her eyes. "I'm sorry about the mess," he says.

"Just tell me what happened. Why aren't you with Steve?"

"Solo mission. Steve's off in Europe with Sam. I didn't know where else to go."

Only her boyfriend would apologise for coming to her.

She smiles at him, her insides tingling when his warm mouth presses against her palm. 

Retracting her arm, she slides off the bed. "I'll grab some things to clean you up. Are you feeling okay?" 

"I've had worse," he says.

Oh, she knows. She turns for the bathroom, pushing memories of seeing him at the Avengers' facility with bandages wrapped around almost his entire body. He had to stay in the hospital for weeks. And that was right after they started seeing each other, when the boundaries between friend and lover were confusing and blurred and she didn't know what to do.

She returns to the bed with gauze and butterfly bandages and ointment and immediately starts patching him up. He sits silently while she works, and when she is done he looks like a badly done up mummy, a sight which she can't help but laugh at.

"You should've gone to a real doctor," she says, pointing to his reflection in the full length mirror hanging on the closet door. 

"It looks fine," he says, lying back down and pulling her with him. He scans her body. "Is this a new dress?"

"Yeah," she says with an eye roll. "But I think I'll return it. I only bought it for this specific client, and it didn't work."

"How do you mean?" he asks, his voice thick with sleepiness.

Darcy turns on her side and resumes stroking his face. She hasn't seen him in nearly a month, and this surprise visit reminds her just how much she misses him when he's gone.

He smiles up at her, his eyelids dripping. "What?"

She shakes her head. Securing her mouth over his, she says, "Nothing. Go to sleep. You need the rest."

Normally he would complain, but whatever happened earlier must have wiped him because as soon as she says the words, his eyes close and his breathing evens out.

Darcy watches him carefully. People are still afraid of him. There was a survey in the news that announced almost fifty percent of New Yorkers still thought he was evil. Even after all he did in the fight against the giant purple grape.

She is so angry at those people. 

"Hey." Darcy startles. Bucky's eyelids crack. "You should sleep too," he suggests.

"Fine," she grumbles, stripping out of her uncomfortable dress and snuggling underneath the covers.

Bucky holds her to him. She drapes an arm over his chest. And they sleep like that, entwined, linked, until the jealous sun rises, blinding them with his light.


End file.
